Raids result in citations for two clubs

Illegal adult shows offered, police report

November 14, 1999|By Lisa Respers | Lisa Respers,SUN STAFF

Two city establishments were cited after raids by Baltimore police officers found illegal adult entertainment, officials said yesterday.

Members of the police vice enforcement unit working with agents from the State Comptroller's Office entered the 1810 Club in the 1800 block of Pennsylvania Ave. about 11: 15 p.m. Friday, police said. Sgt. Craig Gentile, supervisor of the unit, said club owner Donald Gillums, 44, was charged with dispensing alcohol without a liquor license and given a citation for unlicensed adult entertainment.

Gentile said Gillums, who lists the club as his home address, had promoted a strip show billed as "a night out for the VIP boys only" featuring "the baddest, hottest exotic dancers" from Baltimore, Miami, Jacksonville, South Carolina and Washington, D.C. Investigators found 17 customers at the club who had paid $30 to $40 to attend the show.

"They have no licenses for anything," Gentile said. "We seized a large quantity of beer and a small quantity of liquor."

Gentile said police also seized almost $1,000 worth of "booty bucks," tickets patrons used to tip the performers who could redeem them for cash.

In addition to Gillums and the customers, investigators found seven strippers, two disc jockeys and security personnel at the club. Gillums could be sentenced to two years in prison and fines if he is convicted on the liquor charge.

Police also raided Curley's Harbor City in the first block of N. Fremont Ave. shortly before 1 a.m. yesterday. Gentile said the club was cited under a city ordinance for having a full-nudity strip show and selling X-rated tapes without an adult entertainment license.